Does HTTPS matter for my website?

Recently, there has been a large push towards securing websites using HTTPS encryption as apposed to the HTTP we are all accustomed to. Even if your website does not handle sensitive information, it is now considered standard practice to secure websites with HTTPS.

“Beginning in July 2018 with the release of Chrome 68, Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as “not secure”.

New powerful features like recording audio and taking pictures are added to web platforms and these require a secure connection. Many older API’s are being updated to require permission from users before execution, like geolocation (Obtaining your location on a map).

Users security and privacy are protected

It is a common misbelief that only websites that handle sensitive information need to be protected by HTTPS, but every unprotected HTTP request can reveal information about behaviour and identities of your users. When obtaining a security certificate the certificate authority takes steps to verify that the web address belong to the organisation and this prevents man-in-the-middle attacks.

Website integrity is protected

Communication between a users browser and your website can be tampered with or exploited. HTTPS helps to prevent intruders form doing this. Hackers can exploit unprotected communications to swindle users into furnishing sensitive information or installmalware or display their ads on your websites. This can potentially undo all the hard work that was done on user experience and create security vulnerabilities.

Search engine optimisation

Google announced that switching to HTTPS will give you a small boost in ranking. It should be no surprise that this works in Google’s favour and helps them to serve their customers safe, secure and certified content in search engine result pages. It is safe to assume that Google will favour websites that are secure.

Securing your website with HTTPS is a multi step process and is best handled by your webmaster. At Brandsplash all our company websites are protected by HTTPS and we are driving a campaign to convert all our customer’s websites to HTTPS.

We can help you convert your site to HTTPS from as little as R1 500.00 depending on the size and complexity of the website.